Vladimir Putin has been accused of covering up an extraordinary outbreak of plague in Russia which has already claimed a life.
The suspected outbreak in Siberia has left a young laboratory worker dead – and prompted authorities to place close to 200 people in isolation.
Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old lab assistant at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute, died on Thursday after falling critically ill earlier in the week.
Russia’s chief public health official, Anna Popova, travelled roughly 2,600 miles from Moscow to the Irkutsk region in response, according to The Moscow Times.
A hospital in the city of Shelekhov was quarantined, and all individuals who had been in contact with Ms Shipilova were placed under medical observation.
Authorities have declared a Covid-style plague quarantine in the area.
Ms Shipilova is said to have told medical staff she had accidentally shattered a test tube holding live bacteria whilst gathering samples, according to the news outlet Lyudi Baikala.
She initially became unwell during a field expedition with colleagues close to the Russian border with Mongolia in the far east.
On Tuesday, she was admitted to hospital in Shelekhov presenting symptoms of severe pneumonia.
She was then placed on a ventilator.
By Thursday, she had died.
But Regional Governor Igor Kobzev has refused to identify the illness in public, describing it only as “a dangerous infectious disease.”
He cancelled all public events across the region.
After meeting with Ms Popova to coordinate emergency containment efforts, Mr Kobzev urged residents to stay calm.
“All identified contact persons have been placed under medical observation. As of today, the contacts show no signs of illness, and their laboratory test results are negative,” he wrote on Telegram on Friday.
READ MORE FROM RUSSIA:
Fisherman becomes first Briton to die in Ukraine war fighting for Putin’s armyVladimir Putin’s nuclear bombs blessed by Russian Orthodox leader for ‘holy war’ against UkraineRussian drone hunts terrified greengrocer through street in ‘human safari’ attack
Ms Popova has made no public comment on the outbreak.
Reports have also emerged that antibiotics have run out in the Irkutsk region, with alarmed residents rushing to pharmacies and medical facilities for supplies.
Senior Russian epidemiologist Mikhal Favorov dismissed the broken test tube account as implausible, suggesting it pointed to a cover-up, The Moscow Times reported.
“It’s laughable,” said Favorov. “Someone working at the anti-plague Institute in Irkutsk wears a protective anti-plague suit.
“If you break a test tub, the likelihood of infection is actually very low. In short, It doesn’t matter to the general public – they’ll believe the ‘dropped test tube story.'”
“It’s absolutely hair-raising,” he said, adding, “We will not be told what really happened.”
The Russian political insider channel Nezygar drew parallels with the early days of COVID-19 in Wuhan.
Though the bacterium thought to be responsible – the plague – was responsible for a far worse outbreak: the medieval Black Death, which killed tens of millions across Europe and beyond.
Plague is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis and manifests in three main forms: bubonic, pneumonic and septicaemic.
All forms are treatable with antibiotics, particularly if caught early.
Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter
